1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mechanism for automatically separating a bag from a pack and opening its mouth, such bag thereafter being picked up and moved manually or automatically to a filler.
2. Prior Art
The bag-feeding components shown in Litchard U.S. Pat. No. 2,950,589, issued Aug. 30, 1960, and Crabb U.S. Pat. No. 3,789,573, issued Feb. 5, 1974, are representative of known bag-feeding components in which suction is used to assist in separating a bag from a pack. Such components are used for feeding bags made of thin, flexible, imperforate, plastic sheet material, but are not effective for feeding bags of stiffer material such as tightly folded paper bags. Such paper bags are heavier and more resistant to opening and also are more textured so as to present special problems in obtaining a firm grip by use of a suction-applying member. Further, such paper bags are less resilient and more easily ripped if handled too roughly.